Poland’s external financing needs are much smaller than previously thought, according to a new study by the country’s central bank, which should help boost confidence about the country’s condition.

In a report released on Monday, the central bank concluded that external debt due this year comes to €63.9bn ($86.6bn), of which €46.1bn is debt with an original maturity of up to one year, and €17.8bn is long and medium-term debt coming due this year. This final figure had not been previously known, and some analysts had estimated it at more than €30bn.

The bank also found that the largest portion of the debt – €36.1bn – is intra-company debt due to non-resident parent companies, which is likely to be rolled over without much of a problem. That leaves only €38.9bn to be refinanced or repaid this year, less than Poland’s official reserves of €48bn.

“This data is encouraging,” said Piotr Kalisz, chief economist for Citi Handlowy, a subsidiary of Citigroup.

The zloty strengthened against the euro and the dollar on Monday, but Mr Kalisz said the reaction would have been a lot stronger two or three months ago, when there were real fears that Poland would have trouble refinancing its debt this year.

The change in sentiment was helped by Poland recently signing a new $20.6bn flexible credit line with the International Monetary Fund, which helped quell fears about Poland’s access to external financing.

“Poland should not have any problem rolling over its debt,” said Mr Kalisz.

Meanwhile, Poland’s current account surplus in March came to €75m according figures released Friday, a surprise over market consensus, which had expected a deficit of €550m.

The numbers are likely a result of this year’s depreciation of the zloty against the euro and the dollar, which has made Polish exports much more competitive and imports more expensive. The central bank said exports fell by 16.3 per cent to €8.5bn, while imports fell by 26.2 per cent.

The reassuring data from the central bank strengthens the perception that Poland is dealing fairly well with the crisis. Although the economy could see a slight contraction this year, Poland is still likely to be one of the best performing economies in Europe in 2009.

Robert Zoellick, the World Bank president who was in Warsaw on Monday meeting with government officials, said: “The most recent numbers show that Poland has held up better than others, in part because of consumer spending.”